LiveRamp adds people-based search targeting to IdentityLink

Its new capability allows brands to add missing email addresses to their CRMs for search targeting with Google AdWords.

Let’s say you’re a Honda auto dealer in Boston, and you want to target some of your previous and current customers with a new sale of Honda CRVs.

One way is via Google AdWords, since you can show an ad for your sale, along with the results for searches like “Honda CRV” or “new car sales,” for people in New England.

Using Google Customer Match, you can also target your previous and current customers, if you have their Gmail addresses and they are logged into that Gmail at the time of the search. Google can also sometimes match the customer to a Gmail address if you enter another email address for that customer.

But some car customers don’t provide their email addresses, so as to avoid spam. Or they might provide, say, an email address that Google can’t handle. That means that only part of the Honda dealer’s customer relationship management (CRM) data can be utilized for AdWords targeting via search.

That’s a use case for LiveRamp’s new people-based search targeting for its IdentityLink, announced this week. At launch, the new targeting is designed specifically for the search engine giant, Google.

About The Author

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.